Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I will be as brief as possible. Like most other Deputies, I have some experience of the difficulties faced by people in this regard. I wish to mention a particular case that has come to a conclusion. In this case a couple went to Start Mortgages when they were under pressure to meet payments other than their loan repayments. They were encouraged by advertisements to put all their borrowings into one loan. Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, the man lost his job. As soon as the first payment became overdue, it became a legal issue. When the couple eventually got a loan elsewhere, one they thought they were fortunate in getting at the time, they discovered on Christmas Eve, six months later, there was an outstanding bill of €12,000 for the legal case that had been entered, although nothing had arisen from it. Eventually, this was settled for €10,000 and the couple had their loan facilitated by the local authority.

There are implications with regard to such cases. The requirement that people sign an agreement that they will never be housed by a local authority again is unjust and perhaps close to illegal. In the current situation, where so many people are losing jobs and where many may have stupidly over-borrowed, we should face the facts. Everybody was being encouraged to buy their own home. They were sitting in queues outside offices to ensure they would get these homes and loans were being offered by several banks, not just one. Now these people have lost jobs and found themselves in extraordinary situations, we should be considerate of their situations and be sympathetic.

I understand our counterparts across the water have made allowances on account of the current situation in recent announcements and I urge the Minister, in conjunction with the Taoiseach and the Government, to do something similar. We have a crisis and it must be dealt with. I support my colleagues Deputies Enright and Barrett on the issues they have raised. There are technical issues in the system that have no logic. Just because somebody works over 30 hours in a low-paid job, does not mean he or she is making a fortune or is self-sufficient.

Another case I am aware of is that of a person who was self-employed until recently, but now has no work. However, his mortgage is ongoing. There is significant difficulty in obtaining social welfare assistance for this person because he does not have the stamps required. We are in a unique position. Nobody is happy with the situation or proud of it. I do not wish to cast aspersions across the House about the position we are in, but young couples are in extraordinary situations and have mortgages they cannot meet. I urge the Minister, as a goodwill gesture, to accept the amendment in order to alleviate some of the problems. Accepting the amendment will not cost any money. It will only facilitate the drawing up of a more logical process and give us the opportunity to debate the issues.

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